scholarly journals Health Information: Applications and challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
Sheree Lloyd ◽  
Sue M Walker ◽  
Ani Goswami
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Strategic Investment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Information Reporting ◽  
Health Strategy

Global health systems are under immense pressure with the exponential growth and spread of COVID-19.  Public health and health system responses to the pandemic have relied on health information reporting, visualisation, and projections of incidence, morbidity, and mortality. This commentary aims to explore how health information has been used to inform the public, manage risk, understand capacity, prepare the health system and to plan public health strategy.  We also aim to share the health information challenges and our insights to inform future debate and strategic investment.  This paper will be relevant to health service and health information managers wanting to understand vulnerabilities and focus for future health information initiatives.

Increasing rational use of cholinesterase inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease in Brazil: Public health strategy combining guideline with peer-review of prescriptions

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Dornelles Picon ◽  
Ana Luiza Camozzato ◽  
Elaine A. Lapporte ◽  
Rafael V. Picon ◽  
Humberto Moser Filho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Cholinesterase Inhibitors ◽  
Public Health System ◽  
National Guideline ◽  
Expert Committee ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
Rational Use ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Strategy

Objectives: Since 2002, the treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors (CHEIs) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been paid for by the public health system of the Brazilian Ministry of Health for any patient that fulfills clinical criteria established by an evidence-based guideline developed and published by the Ministry. The aim of this study was to evaluate compliance of prescription patterns to the national guideline for use of CHEIs’ in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.Methods: We created a regional expert-committee reference center to review all prescriptions of CHEIs and to send feedback to physicians whenever prescriptions without compliance to the guideline were noted. One thousand three hundred ninety-nine (1,399) CHEI prescriptions presented to the public health system from 2005 to 2007 were evaluated by an expert team of neurologists and psychiatrists. Clinical history, performance on mental status screening by Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating scale (CDR), laboratory results, and neuroimaging findings were evaluated in relation to the adherence to the national guideline's recommendations. If the prescription was rejected because of lack of adherence to the criteria of the guideline, a written response was sent by the expert committee to physicians concerning the request.Results: The majority of the requests (n = 1,044; 75 percent) did not meet the AD guideline's criteria, either for diagnosis or for treatment, and were not granted. A diagnostic mistake was evident in 64.3 percent of cases. Findings of vascular or Parkinson's dementia or severe AD were the main reasons for rejection. Rivastigmine was the most prescribed cholinesterase inhibitor, used in 86 percent of cases. Of note was the reduction in the number of CHEIs prescriptions in the years following this intervention.Conclusions: The public health strategy of using expert-review of prescriptions and their compliance to national guideline revealed a low rate of rational use of CHEIs for dementia. Such a strategy is relevant for protecting patients from unproven medical interventions and for reducing waste of resources.

The public’s trust and information brokers in health care, public health and research

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 929-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodyn Platt ◽  
Minakshi Raj ◽  
Sharon L.R. Kardia
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health System ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Information Brokers

Purpose Nations such as the USA are investing in technologies such as electronic health records in order to collect, store and transfer information across boundaries of health care, public health and research. Health information brokers such as health care providers, public health departments and university researchers function as “access points” to manage relationships between the public and the health system. The relationship between the public and health information brokers is influenced by trust; and this relationship may predict the trust that the public has in the health system as a whole, which has implications for public trust in the system, and consequently, legitimacy of involved institutions, under circumstances of health information data sharing in the future. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors aimed to examine characteristics of trustors (i.e. the public) that predict trust in health information brokers; and further, to identify the factors that influence trust in brokers that also predict system trust. The authors developed a survey that was administered to US respondents in 2014 using GfK’s nationally representative sample, with a final sample of 1,011 participants and conducted ordinary least squares regression for data analyses. Findings Results suggest that health care providers are the most trusted information brokers of those examined. Beliefs about medical deceptive behavior were negatively associated with trust in each of the information brokers examined; however, psychosocial factors were significantly associated with trust in brokers, suggesting that individual attitudes and beliefs are influential on trust in brokers. Positive views of information sharing and the expectation of benefits of information sharing for health outcomes and health care quality are associated with system trust. Originality/value This study suggests that demonstrating the benefits and value of information sharing could be beneficial for building public trust in the health system; however, trust in brokers of information are variable across the public; that is, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs are associated with the level of trust different individuals have in various health information brokers – suggesting that the need for a personalized approach to building trust.

scholarly journals The Public Health Strategy for Palliative Care

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Stjernswärd ◽  
Kathleen M. Foley ◽  
Frank D. Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Strategy

scholarly journals Sexuality and associated risk factors in pregnant women

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (suppl 4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Renata Amorim Lessa Soares ◽  
Cinthia Gondim Pereira Calou ◽  
Samila Gomes Ribeiro ◽  
Priscila de Souza Aquino ◽  
Paulo Cesar de Almeida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sexual Dysfunction ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Sexual Function ◽  
Health System ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Public

ABSTRACT Objectives: to assess the sexual function of pregnant women and the influence of sociodemographic, obstetric, and behavioral factors on sexual dysfunction. Methods: cross-sectional study conducted with 141 pregnant women attended by the Single Health System and 120 by one private service, totaling 261 participants. A questionnaire containing sociodemographic, obstetric, and behavioral variables was applied, as well as the Female Sexual Function Index instrument, which was used to assess sexual function. Associations between variables and sexual dysfunction were made using the chi-square test, considering a statistically significant result when p < 0.05. Results: among the participants, 32.1% had sexual dysfunction, and the variables “age”, “income” and “type of health service” had an influence on sexual dysfunction. The prevalence of pregnant women was between 21 and 30 years old (p < 0.001), with an income between 1 and 2 minimum wages (p = 0.048) and used the public health system network (p = 0.000). Conclusions: the factors associated with sexual dysfunction are “young pregnant women”, “low income” and “attended in the public health service”.

scholarly journals Access to Oncology Drugs in Brazil: Juggling Innovation and Sustainability in Developing Countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. maapoc.0000004
Author(s):  
Felipe Ades
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Public Health System ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Multiple Stakeholders ◽  
Future Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Complex Matter

Brazil is a developing country of continental proportions and faces challenges in organizing an effective, universal, and affordable public health system. In a context of limited resources, the budget allocation to health care must be consistent with the health priorities of each population. The Brazilian population is ageing and the number of new cancer cases is likely to steadily increase in the near future. To deal with the extra cancer burden, strategies to match this future health necessity must be proactively put in place. Keeping the balance between the incorporation of a new drug and the sustainability of the public health system is a complex matter. Decisions for incorporation must be assessed, taking into consideration the ability of the drug to improve the public health in relation to its monetary impact. This is a societal discussion, and multiple stakeholders are involved in this process - from health authorities to pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and civil society. This article discusses the issues of incorporating a drug into the public health system and the strategies to improve access to innovative medicines, from the regulatory to the drug development perspectives.

scholarly journals Emergence of highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants in Bangladesh: the need for systematic genetic surveillance as a public health strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan ◽  
Ian Christopher N. Rocha ◽  
Kimberly G. Ramos ◽  
Trisha Denise D. Cedeño ◽  
Ana Carla dos Santos Costa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Middle Income Country ◽  
Public Health Strategy ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
Surveillance Programs

AbstractBangladesh, a low-middle-income country in South Asia is facing one of its worst public health emergencies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in the number of cases from the disease, since the second half of March 2021, can potentially cause the health system overload, and has, as one of the main reasons, the non-compliance with measures of social distance and the emergence of the variants of concern in the country. This increase in the contagion curve can also provide a favorable environment for the occurrence of more mutations in the structure and genome of the virus. Therefore, there is an urge to carry out genomic surveillance programs in order to identify, monitor and characterize these variants, and understand whether the vaccines currently used are effective against them.

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